Browser privacy
It is scary how complex the topic privacy on the Internet has gotten. No matter what precautions you take it is almost impossible to not be fingerprinted. That does not necessarily mean that the website or service you are visiting is aware of who you are. But the chance of identifying all your visits and pining them to a virtual persona of yourself is very likely.
Take a look at the EFF project Cover Your Tracks. It shows you how unique you are within thousands of visitors.
The good news is that there are many measures you can take to surf the web more privately. You can start simple and steadily increase your level of paranoia.
At least:
- always use a secure HTTPS connection (browsers are even beginning to adopt settings to enable this without extension)
- add an ad blocker like uBlock Origin
If you are technically inclined you might take a look at:
- Pi-hole for DNS-based ad blocking across your home network
- the Tor project for a higher level of anonymity
- there are mixed optinions on the use of VPN services – they don’t necessarily prived security and/or privacy
Paranoia mode
If you want to go full Mr. Robot you might want to take a look at portable operating systems specifically optimized for security and privacy. For example:
- Tails with its infamous default amnesia mode
- Linux Kodachi offers even more tools out-of-the-box
Those operating systems are also perfect to learn what tools help you stay safe and to try e.g. Tor without having to set up anything manually.
If you want to take it one step further think about implementing plausible deniability to completely hide your important data.
There are many more topics and tools surrounding security and privacy. Please see the info provided as mere starting point down your own personal rabbit hole.
Also take a look at PrivacyTools which is a big collection of privacy focused resources in many different areas.